https://www.finecheese.co.uk/westcombe-cheddar?___store=default3708Westcombe Cheddar Hand-Selected https://www.finecheese.co.uk/media/catalog/product/w/e/westcombe-jl_b_with-caption-savoury-and-strong.jpg6.30GBPInStock/Our Cheeses/Cut and Individual Cheeses/British Cheeses/Our Cheeses/Cut and Individual Cheeses/Cows' Cheeses/Our Cheeses/Cut and Individual Cheeses/Unpasteurised Cheeses/Our Cheeses/Cut and Individual Cheeses/Our Essential Christmas Cheeses/Cheddar/Our Cheeses/Our Cheeses/Encyclo-Cheese-ia/Cheddar Cheese/Our Cheeses/Our Essential Cheeses/Cheddar/Our Cheeses/Cut and Individual Cheeses/Christmas Cheese Shop/Our Essential Festive Cheeses<p>A truly artisan cheddar from Somerset with a deep and complex flavour. Cheese has been made at Westcombe since the 1890s and they now remain as one of the last three traditional producers of Somerset Cheddar. They have the status of PDO but the Calvers are one of the last three families, along with Jamie Montgomery and the Keens to make traditional Artisan Somerset Cheddar.</p> <p>The criteria for this is much stricter than that for West Country Farmhouse Cheddar, and includes using raw milk from their own herd, pint starters rather than the more widely used powdered versions, and animal rennet. The cheese must never be made in a block form, and must be cloth-bound before being matured for at least one year.</p> <p>The Calver family farm two farms with 400 cows and make unpasteurised Cheddar daily, using methods passed down over many generations. Tom Calver is the most recent generation working in the dairy. Under his guidance the cheese has gone from strength to strength as he has adjusted the recipe and refined the maturing. At the same time his father, Richard, has worked on improving the quality of the cows feed to get a better fat and protein content.</p> <p>Winner of <strong>BEST PDO Cheese and Best Cheddar at the 2017 British Cheese Awards</strong></p> <p>WHAT MAKES THIS CHEDDAR SPECIAL?</p> <p>Westcombe Hand-Selected is exactly that. Every month Ruth Raskin and Luke Maslen, Quality Managers at The Fine Cheese Co. meet with Tom Calver and hand select Cheddars at 9 months old.</p> <p>These will be the very best cheeses from that month’s production. They are set aside for The Fine Cheese Co., and re-tasted monthly - only released for sale when Tom and Luke judge they are at their peak (any time from 14/15 months - up to 18 months).</p> <p>This is Slow Food with real meaning.</p> <p>*This is a hand-made, artisan cheese, which may contain naturally occurring blue veins. These are normal and intrinsic to the nature of this type of cheese and add to its character. We think they taste good too!</p> <p> </p> <p><img style="margin-right: 20px; float: left;" title="Luke Maslen The Fine Cheese Co. Affineur and Quality Manager" src="{{media url="wysiwyg/upload/luke-2016_b_.jpg"}}" alt="Luke Maslen The Fine Cheese Co. Affineur and Quality Manager" width="160" /></p> <p><img style="vertical-align: top;" title="Every piece freshly cut & wrapped " src="{{media url="wysiwyg/upload/every-piece-freshly-cut-_-wrapped-text.png"}}" alt="Every piece freshly cut & wrapped " width="400" /></p> <p>We unashamedly source, care for and sell the best cheese, because that is what we believe in. Every day of dispatch one of our trained cheesemongers cuts every piece fresh, by hand, and wraps it in our waxed paper. We do this because it is most respectful way to treat this precious food.</p>6.302014-07-30

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A truly artisan cheddar from Somerset with a deep and complex flavour. Cheese has been made at Westcombe since the 1890s and they now remain as one of the last three traditional producers of Somerset Cheddar. They have the status of PDO but the Calvers are one of the last three families, along with Jamie Montgomery and the Keens to make traditional Artisan Somerset Cheddar.

The criteria for this is much stricter than that for West Country Farmhouse Cheddar, and includes using raw milk from their own herd, pint starters rather than the more widely used powdered versions, and animal rennet. The cheese must never be made in a block form, and must be cloth-bound before being matured for at least one year.

The Calver family farm two farms with 400 cows and make unpasteurised Cheddar daily, using methods passed down over many generations. Tom Calver is the most recent generation working in the dairy. Under his guidance the cheese has gone from strength to strength as he has adjusted the recipe and refined the maturing. At the same time his father, Richard, has worked on improving the quality of the cows feed to get a better fat and protein content.

Winner of BEST PDO Cheese and Best Cheddar at the 2017 British Cheese Awards

These will be the very best cheeses from that month’s production. They are set aside for The Fine Cheese Co., and re-tasted monthly - only released for sale when Tom and Luke judge they are at their peak (any time from 14/15 months - up to 18 months).

This is Slow Food with real meaning.

*This is a hand-made, artisan cheese, which may contain naturally occurring blue veins. These are normal and intrinsic to the nature of this type of cheese and add to its character. We think they taste good too!

We unashamedly source, care for and sell the best cheese, because that is what we believe in. Every day of dispatch one of our trained cheesemongers cuts every piece fresh, by hand, and wraps it in our waxed paper. We do this because it is most respectful way to treat this precious food.

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Because our products are perishable, we take great care in delivering your order. We will hand pack and deliver the next day, we must have an alternative delivery instruction for any private address, such as "leave in porch/on step/with a neighbour". This is particularly important if you are sending a surprise gift.

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We deliver on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Because our products are perishable, we must have an alternative delivery instruction for any private address, such as "leave in porch/on step/with a neighbour". This is particularly important if you are sending a surprise gift; but, even if you are planning to be in, circumstances do change.

We would ideally like 48 hours’ notice of your order, but we will pull out the stops if you cannot give us that much time. In the latter case, please telephone your order - 01225 448748 – rather than place it through the website. In any case, please place your order by MIDDAY, if you require it for the following day.

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Delivery is FREE for all orders over £50.00 in value. For any order lower in value than £50.00, our pricing is very simple, it costs £6.99 to get your order delivered to any address on the GB mainland*. * Excluding Highlands & Islands (A Delivery Surcharge may apply).

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About Us

The Fine Cheese Co. is a maturer, wholesaler, retailer and exporter of artisan British cheeses. We are based in historic Bath, founded by the Romans and famous for its beautiful Georgian architecture - alongside Venice the only World Heritage city in Europe.

We have been cheese specialists for twenty years, and from the start we have nurtured and supported the cream of British cheese-makers. We stock over a hundred hand-made British cheeses: from rediscovered gems such as Devon Oke, a hard but creamy cows’ milk cheese made to the original seventeenth century recipe, to Lord of the Hundreds, an unpasteurised mature sheep’s milk cheese made in the style of an Italian Pecorino.